Hours-long incident ends with stolen-truck suspect shot dead

Multiple officers respond to scene, one injured

Feb. 22, 2013

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A suspect was shot and killed by Springfield police after he earlier shot at and grazed a detective serving a search warrant at a house near the intersection of Grand Street and West Avenue. / Dean Curtis/News-Leader

Time line

Midnight — Authorities are in the 3100 block of West Chestnut Expressway investigating a string of burglaries. They spot a pickup truck without license plates and attempt to make a car stop. The car flees the area, police do not chase it. Later that morning — the pickup, now known to be stolen, is spotted in the 700 block of N. West Ave., wrecked and abandonded. Police follow a trail of footprints in the snow to the home at 2506 West Grand St. 2:25 a.m. — A log indicates police were called to the Grand Street address to “check person.” It’s not immediately clear if that call is related to this morning’s shooting. 6:00 a.m. — Police Chief Paul Williams is notified that the police have the home surrounded and are waiting for a search warrant. Repeated attempts to get the suspect to leave the house willingly are unsuccessful. 8:15 a.m. — Scanner traffic indicates an officer has been shot. 8:30 a.m. — A long stretch of repeated gunfire can be heard at the scene. Police evacuate the area. 11:30 a.m. — Authorities confirm the suspect is dead. Two other people were taken in for questioning. A police camera robot is used to examine the scene and surrounding buildings. 2 p.m. — Police clear the scene of any immediate threat. The house and any other buildings on the property are cleared. Police begin cordoning the area off with crime scene tape. 4 p.m. — Chief Williams holds news conference. Reveals circumstances surrounding the first call. Says injured Det. Travis Wilson is doing fine with only grazing wound. Police do not yet know identity of the deceased.

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Springfield police followed footprints in the snow to a Grand Street residence where an eventual shootout left one officer injured and an as-yet-unidentified suspect dead.

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Authorities have not determined who the deceased person is, and they do not expect to be able to identify him this weekend.

The incident began in the early morning hours Friday as police were investigating a string of commercial burglaries in the 3100 block of West Chestnut Expressway.

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Police attempted to pull over a vehicle with no license plates in the area just after midnight on Friday. The vehicle fled, and the officers did not give chase, Police Chief Paul Williams said.

However, the vehicle was later found wrecked and abandoned in the 700 block of N. West Ave. The owner of a local car lot confirmed for police that the pickup was stolen, Williams said.

Authorities found the crashed vehicle and followed footprints in the snow to the home at 2506 W. Grand St. There police set up a perimeter and repeatedly tried to get the suspect to willingly leave the home. That effort was unsuccessful.

“We had no choice to but to go in and serve the search warrant with the Special Response Team,” Williams said.

At some point during the execution of the warrant, Williams said, a gunman emerged and began shooting.

Differing from earlier police accounts, Williams said a single gun battle began inside the home and ended — with the shooter’s death — outside the home.

Earlier accounts were that two separate gun battles took place at the home.

Williams identified Det. Travis Wilson as the officer who was shot in the right side of his back and hip area. The injury was described as minor, with the bullet only grazing Wilson. Williams said Wilson was treated at the scene and released.

Williams said he was doing well.

More than 30 police officers responded to the scene, some armed with rifles. Later arrivals wore tactical gear.

At one point, a large number of officers were creating an arc along Grand Street, in defensive crouches behind vehicles and buildings.

One group of officers was huddled behind a commercial building on the north side of that building, trying to stay out of a potential line of fire. Two other squads were crouched at the corners of nearby homes. All of the officers’ attention seemed directed toward the back of the home, where a warehouse building stands.

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Two people were detained at the scene, questioned and have since been released, Williams said.

Williams said each officer who fired a shot was placed on administrative leave — standard protocol in fatal shootings.

Going forward there will be two investigations—the criminal investigation of the incident as well as an internal investigation of the suspect’s death.

Williams did not anticipate that another agency would need to be brought in. The report from the internal investigation, when completed, will be sent to the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office. There the determination as to whether the shooting was justified will be made.

Neighbors in the area of the shooting weren’t surprised to hear of trouble at the home.

C.S. Lindsey, the owner of a nearby mobile home community, said she has called police repeatedly about problems at the home.

“Many, many, many times I’ve called the police about them,” Lindsey said. “It’s been nothing but trouble.”

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Time line

Midnight — Authorities are in the 3100 block of West Chestnut Expressway investigating a string of burglaries. They spot a pickup truck without license plates and attempt to make a car stop. The car flees the area, police do not chase it.

Later that morning — the pickup, now known to be stolen, is spotted in the 700 block of N. West Ave., wrecked and abandoned. Police follow a trail of footprints in the snow to the home at 2506 West Grand St.

2:25 a.m. — A log indicates police were called to the Grand Street address to “check person.” It’s not immediately clear if that call is related to this morning’s shooting.

6:00 a.m. — Police Chief Paul Williams is notified that the police have the home surrounded and are waiting for a search warrant. Repeated attempts to get the suspect to leave the house willingly are unsuccessful.

8:15 a.m. — Scanner traffic indicates an officer has been shot.

8:30 a.m. — A long stretch of repeated gunfire can be heard at the scene. Police evacuate the area.

11:30 a.m. — Authorities confirm the suspect is dead. Two other people were taken in for questioning. A police camera robot is used to examine the scene and surrounding buildings.

2 p.m. — Police clear the scene of any immediate threat. The house and any other buildings on the property are cleared. Police begin cordoning the area off with crime scene tape.